JHAPA, August 11: Former employee at Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), Raju Neupane, of Jhapa died of coronavirus infection on Tuesday.
Neupane, 55, passed away in course of treatment at Mechi Provincial COVID Hospital. In the beginning, he was taken to the Mechi Provincial Hospital 10 days ago after he suffered from fever, cough and cold. The hospital suggested him to stay in home isolation taking medicines.
Neupane was later taken to Birta City hospital at Birtamod five days ago for treatment after his health deteriorated. The Birta City hospital referred him to B&C hospital, citing patients pressure was high and the ICU was packed.
He was again admitted to Mechi Provincial COVID Hospital and died in course of treatment at 12 midnight on Tuesday, said the family source. He is survived by two sons, one daughter and a wife.
JHAPA, August 4: Hospitals in Jhapa, the Tarai district in Province 1, have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients when experts have warned of an outbreak of the third wave of the pandemic soon.
Sixty people are receiving care for COVID-19 at the 75-bed COVID-19 treatment centre stationed at the Mechi Provincial Hospital, according to Hospital's medical superintendent Dr Tanka Barakoti.
Only 60 beds in the centre are supported by oxygen supply system and all of them are currently occupied. Additional patients who require oxygen therapy are being referred to other facilities. Likewise, three COVID-19 dedicated ICU beds have been packed. Three ICU beds, out of five, have been allotted for COVID-19 cases.
The Birtamod-based B&C Hospital which has managed the highest number of COVID-19 beds across is presently treating 74 COVID-19 patients.
Hospital's public relations (PR) officer Pramish Giri said the Hospital has 32 ICU beds for COVID-19 cases and the total beds have remained packed with COVID-19 patients. As he said, the flow of patients has significantly soared in the past one week. ''If the flow continues to rise, we are prepared to add more beds," he said, adding that the hospital would not let arrive the situation for turning away the patients without treatment.
The Hospital consumes around 200 oxygen cylinders in a day and 50 are being produced by the Hospital itself. As Giri said, the Hospital has also managed 25 NICU beds and 15 PICU beds as experts predict that children might have higher chance of getting infected during the third wave of the pandemic.
All the isolation wards, ICUs and ventilators are occupied at Purnatung Birtacity Hospital in Birtamod. Hospital's administration chief Binod Basnet said a 53-bed isolation, nine-bed ventilator ward and 12-bed ICU has been managed at the hospital. He added that all the beds are occupied and the situation is that new patients have to be treated pitching a tent at the hospital premises.
According to him, the hospital is filled with patients as the number of COVID-19 patients coming to the hospital for treatment has increased since a week. The hospital has closed the OPD services for now, giving priority to treatment of coronavirus infected patients.
Basnet said 100 oxygen cylinders are required per day.
The Beldangi COVID Hospital in Damak is also filled with patients. This hospital operated by Damak Municipality has 30 beds and all beds are occupied, resource person at the hospital Devi Dangal said.
KATHMANDU, Aug 4: Around three thousand Bhutanese refugees living in camps in Damak of Jhapa and in Pathari Sanischare of Eastern Morang have been immunized against COVID-19.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccines were administered to many refugees above 18 years through the local health office.
The jabs were given to the refugees through coordination of the Government of Nepal and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The vaccination drive was managed by the Refugee Management Committees at these places, said Champa Singh Rai, the secretary at the Refugee Camp Management Committee, Sanischare.
According to Rai, 856 out of the total 1,500 refugees at the Pathari Refugee Camp were immunized while 2,307 refugees received the jabs at the Beldangi Camp in Damak.
The Chief District Officers of both the districts and representatives of the donor agencies, among others, had monitored the vaccination programme.
Joint-secretary at the Beldangi Camp Management Committee, TB Rai said a data released four months back showed the total number of Bhutanese refugees at 6,500 in Jhapa and Morang.
Meanwhile, a fund of Rs 4 million 175 thousand has been collected under the Coronavirus Pandemic Control Campaign operated by Damak Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chamber president Gokul Shrestha said the fund has been collected for the purchase of various medical appliances including ventilators
JHAPA, June 25: Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has provided 25 oxygen concentrators to Jhapa, Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung districts to help in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The Association handed over the oxygen concentrators to COVID-19 Crisis Management Committees of the four districts through Mechi Campaign.
Coordinator of the Campaign, Bijay Dalmiya, said that oxygen concentrators have already been handed over to Chief District Officer of the four districts. He said 12 concentrators have been given to Jhapa district while the rest of the districts have been supplied with two concentrators each.
The Association provided the oxygen concentrators at the initiative of Nepali Congress Spokesperson Bishwo Prakash Sharma with an objective of helping in treatment of COVID-19 patients of these districts.
Chief District Officer and Chairperson of COVID-19 Crisis Management Committee, Jhapa, Shrawan Kumar Timsina, shared that the oxygen concentrators provided by the Association have already been distributed to 12 local levels of Jhapa district.
PAACHTHAR, May 30: Vice-chair of Federation of Nepali Journalists, Paanchthar unit Yekraj Bhandari died of COVID-19 on Saturday. He was undergoing treatment at the Birta City hospital in Birtamode of Jhapa.
The 52-year-old had been admitted to the hospital on May 14 and was put on ventilator support after his condition deteriorated, according to Nepal Press Union, Paanchthar chair Jitendra Bhandari. He was cremated at Hewaghat in Phidim-4 last night.
A resident of Hilihang rural municipality-5 in the district, Bhandari was involved in the journalism and teaching profession since the past 15 years. He is survived by his wife, one son and two daughters.
ITAHARI, May 19: As of May 18 evening, the number of Covid-19 infected journalists amid the second wave of the pandemic has reached 60 in Province 1. According to Bibek Gautam, the General Secretary of Federation of Nepali Journalists Province 1 Committee, the highest infected tally is from four districts in the eastern Terai- Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Udayapur. Jhapa district tops the list. In Jhapa alone, 19 journalists are battling with the pandemic.
Similarly, in Morang, Sunsari and Udayapur, the tally is 15, 13 and 3 respectively.
Taplejung and Panchthar each have three COVID-19 patients while Khotang has two. Likewise, Okhaldhunga and Bhojpur each have one patient.
Out of 60, three journalists are undergoing treatment at Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and ventilator, informed Gautam. He added, ''One journalist has succumbed to this deadly virus.'' he said most of the infected journalists are in home isolation.
Province 1 Chief Somnath Adhikari made calls to all infected journalists to boost their morale. ''Yesterday I got a call from Province Chief Pyasi, we talked for about five minutes. It was a surprise call and I felt encouraged,'' an Itahari-based journalist battling COVID-19 said.
KATHMANDU, May 14: Prohibitory order has been extended in Jhapa for an additional week. A meeting of the District-level COVID-19 Crisis Management Center (DCCMC) held at the District Administration Office Jhapa decided to extend the restriction up to coming May 20 midnight.
The prohibitory order was enforced in Jhapa in the first phase which was effective since May 1. The duration of the order for the first phase is expiring 12 midnight today.
Jhapa Chief District Officer Shrawan Kumar Timilsina said the decision was made to extend prohibitory order up to May 20 in view of rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and subsequent fatalities in the district.
The Thursday meeting also decided to completely close down groceries and business apart from medicines, health materials and fuel and also provide home delivery of green vegetables, fruits, milk and milk products within 8.00 am in coordination with local level and local chamber of commerce and industry.
The meeting has also decided to request people not to come out from home in any case except medicine purchase and treatment and close all government offices, public enterprises and insurance office excluding the ones for providing most essential services.
